Opinions

On January 4, 1998, 21 years ago, at the Palacio de Deportes de “Obras Sanitarias” in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Silo concluded his final report to the first Public Assembly of the Structure of the Humanist Movement with these few words: “…What is the humanist movement today? Is… »

In many ways it is painful to reflect on the year 2018; a year of vital opportunities lost when so much is at stake. Whether politically, militarily, socially, economically, financially or ecologically, humanity took some giant strides backwards while passing up endless… »

By Howard Richards Some of us think 2008 was a lost opportunity. Humanity had a chance to change course to save itself and the biosphere. We blew it. Could 2019 be a second chance? The reason why 2008, instead of some other recent year, stands… »

George Monbiot for The Guardian By abetting the ad industry, universities are leading us into temptation, when they should be enlightening us. To what extent do we decide? We tell ourselves we choose our own life course, but is this ever true? If you or I had… »

By Howard Richards 1. A new economy (or economies), in other words a new social structure (or structures), whose principle is solidarity, is necessary, not optional. 2. It is impossible to construct the new economy using only the best-known old methods for changing society (legislation, revolution, electoral politics, nonviolent resistance,… »

When talking about fossil fuels disasters we are running out of superlatives. The Deepwater Horizon operated by BP discharged an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. After several failed efforts to contain the flow, the well was declared sealed on 19 September 2010. Reports in early 2012 indicated… »

By Partha Banerjee Yesterday (December 27), a huge explosion of some sort at New York City’s Con Edison Astoria power plant turned the night sky blue. It was frightening. It was so big that idiots thought it was an alien invasion, and smart people nicknamed it Astoria Borealis (after Aurora… »

Of the United Nations’ 18 major human rights treaties, the United States is party to 5, fewer than any other nation on earth, except Bhutan (4), and tied with Malaya Malaysia, Myanmar, and South Sudan, a country torn by warfare since its creation in 2011. The United States is the only nation on… »

In 2013, a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) on Universal and Unconditional Basic Income (UBI)[1] was carried out, but the one million signatures required were not collected and for some activists the action was a failure. The truth is that, back then UBI was not as well-known as it… »

Gatwick drones Between 120,000 and 350,000 people (depending on which paper you read) had their Christmas plans disrupted by the closure of Gatwick airport south of London over a 36+ hours period due to drones flying illegally and creating chaos. The police considered that shooting them down was too dangerous… »